Tuesday, July 05, 2016

What a fun evening at Dodger Stadium. We got all of the pomp and circumstance you'd expect at a ballgame on Independence Day. Folks from the armed services were on hand and unveiled a large flag on the field while another sang the national anthem. Best yet, an American bald eagle, not the one shown with Dodger President Stan Kasten, soared above the stadium to the delight of the crowd. Then, once realizing freedom was at hand, the eagle took off for the great open spaces and flew away - to the consternation of his handler. Per an ESPN report:

The male eagle was supposed to fly from the top of the stadium down
to its handler Monday as part of the pregame festivities for
Independence Day.

Instead, the liberty-loving bird flew right on past its handler on the outfield grass and continued over the center-field fence.

It disappeared from view, prompting rumbles of laughter and concern from baseball fans.

Fortunately, the freedom loving eagle did not go far. In fact, it appears he just decided to go on a little joyride. Per a tweet from the LA Zoo:

@Dodgers Happily, our bald eagles are fine + safely back at the Zoo. Although he missed his mark, Chinook waited by the van for his trainer

This Day in Dodger History: In 1935 Tony Cuccinello of the Dodgers and Al Cuccinello of the Giants hit home runs, the first time in the majors brothers on opposing teams homered in the same game. In 1952 the Dodgers game against the Boston Braves is delayed when a small dog comes on the field. Outfielders Carl Furillo and Duke Snider have to escort it to the stands. In 2004 Eric Gagne's streak of 84 consecutive saves is ended by Chad Tracy of the Diamondbacks.

Via Alex Hider on the Ticker at UniWatch we discover that the Dodgers are now two-for-two since second baseman Howie Kendrick has worn stirrups. BTW, Howie did not wear stirrups on the 4th of July.

The protesters were quickly apprehended by security and carried off the field. A group called Direct Action Everywhere stated in a press release that the group is demanding that the Dodgers "stop selling animal products, support equal rights for all animals to be free from captivity and harm."

“The key to throwing this new cutter for me is to throw it and commit to
the spot and throw it like a fastball,” De Jong said after Monday
night’s game. “I haven’t had much of a velocity drop with it, I’m still
90-92 with the cutter and I’m only topping out at 93-94 with the 4 seam
[fastball]. I’ll gladly take the movement over the two-MPH difference.
Billy Simas and I have worked with it a lot over the last 10 days and
now I’m very confident with it.”

This is pretty cool to see. With an airline as a sponsor it should come as no surprise that a plane would soon be decorated in your colors. Featured here is an Dodger-themed Emirates Airbus A380 double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner. Awesome! It just flew for the first time on July 1st from Dubai to Los Angeles.Watch the video below of the plane getting painted Dodger Blue.

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“There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey. There’s nothing like it in sports. I don’t care that I’ve never been anywhere else. I don’t care. There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey.” -- A.J. Ellis